Mary Ruth Bischel was born on August 9, 1920, in Rapid City, SD, the daughter of William E. and Ruth Minty Morse. She was married to Kenneth Henry Bischel on April 30, 1944. After Kenneth’s death in 1980, Mary married Hal Hulbert in 1992 (deceased in 2001).

Mary died on Monday, May 28, 2012, in her home in Rocklin, in the presence of family members.

She is survived by her brother, James Morse and his wife, Marjorie of Rapid City, SD, and her sister-in-law, Sylvia Morse, wife of William E. Morse Jr. (deceased in 2000) of Davenport, Iowa. She is also survived by three sons, ten grandchildren, and three great grandchildren which include William and his wife Elizabeth of Menlo Park, their three children, Lindsey, Kristina, and Julianne; David and his wife Jill of Auburn, their four children, Tyler, Manda, Heather, and Drew; Andrew and his wife Mireille of Walnut Creek, his three children, James, Jennifer, and Caroline. James has three children, Zachary, Nathan, and Kathryn.

Mary grew up in a Christian home where she developed a love of animals and became an accomplished horsewoman.

She found a life-long joy in music through her accomplishments at the violin and piano. Mary’s life work was teaching in many different venues.

She taught elementary school in Ridgecrest,, for 25 years. After retirement, she taught English as a second language (ESL) in Ridgecrest and internationally in Korea and Italy.

Mary enjoyed a zest for the outdoors and worldwide travel. Mary loved visiting our National Parks and traveled to every park in the country except one.

Mary was a long-time member of the Ridgecrest United Methodist Church, and more recently a member of the Shepherd of the Sierra Presbyterian Church in Loomis.

She had a deep calling to minister to the underserved community, which included participation in Christian service missions in Nevada, Kentucky, Korea and Italy. She departs this earth beloved by her family.

A memorial service in her honor will be held at 2:00 PM on June 16, 2012, at the Shepherd of the Sierra Presbyterian Church, 5400 Barton Road, Loomis, CA. As part of the service, Mary’s ashes will be scattered on the grounds of the church in a ceremony with her family. Donations can be made in her honor to the National Parks Foundation (http://www.nationalparks.org) or the Shepherd of the Sierra Church.